Postings by Ninja PD SR1 RATS MBDCh FM's Family

I got Ninja from a breeder, my border collie before that came from a working ranch. My ranch BC was around 40 lbs at full grown, and ended up pretty lean and leggy build even though he seemed to have a thicker build (not fat) as a puppy.

At 8 weeks Ninja was a little over 6 lbs. At 2 years old he weights 35 lbs, and is a lean body type. His mother was under 30lbs and his father was 34lbs.

I would look into foundation excersises for agility. I dont do Agility myself, but in Flyball there are ALOT of ground work excersises that dont involve equipment that is fun and safe on their growing bodies that you can start as soon as your pup comes home.

My dogs run naked as well. Long ago Riley started flyball training in a harness until i relised how restrictive they can be to the dog's movement and stretching out the shoulder area. Now Riley may run in a collar sometimes but Ninja always runs naked. I just tell him to "line up" and he circles between my legs and i hold onto his hips which works very well considering how much he pulls while waiting to run. I know my team mate has used a 'flyball collar' from Rush to Tug that works really well for her GSD.

But in general my dogs are naked even around the house and on trips to the park. usually they only ware something if we are traveling to an event or going on a hike.

The way i would handle this is to put a verbal cue to work and make sure its solid in the context of running next to you. For Ninja his cue is "side" and he knows he doesnt get to run until hes lined up right next to me. The second he pulls ahead or whatever, the run would stop.

I know it is hard to feed and train while you are running, but in this senario i think the only way you will get this trained behavior is to set up seperate training senarios as if you were going for a run but just work on the behavior. take the treats and start slow whie using the cue to stay with you and maybe start with shorter sessions ans work up to longer runs so eventually you can take him on the real runs with you and he understands what you expect of him. I understand this may not be ideal because you probably want to take him on regular runs with you now, but i dont think he will figure out on the fly what you are expecting. just my 2 cents.

we tailor our bike runs so that they are more interesting. Ninja runs off leash and runs laps around me and runs way out in front and then runs all the way back. In addition there are some structures at this area that he runs around kind of like an agility obsticle. Theres a big model train thing surrounded by a circular fence and and runs to the bike and waits until i say GO! and he runs away from me to lap around it and back to me. little fun games like this really wares him out because of the intensity he puts into it. Its really fun and he gets to run at his crazy pace and i get to bike at mine.

Im not past biking a dog on leash next to me but usually Ive used a harness. In the very beginning I did this with Ninja and Riley but quickly stopped with with Ninja. He runs very hard and races the bike so i was worried about safety. Running on asfault or concrete can be very stressful on joints. Also running on leash like that can create a un natural way of movement on the dog, instead of "free running" where the dog is running naturally and free and has control of their body and is comfortable. with Ninja i now only run him off leash at a safe of leash area and it is on grass/dirt. he can run hard but safely. I will occasionally bike Riley on leash but she is much slower and cautious and wont run, just a steady trot and we dont go too long because of her age. All in all it sounds like these people are pushing their dogs too hard too fast and each dog should be taken into individual consideration.

Yes, this is a typical experience that I've had when getting a puppy from a performance breeder. Long before the puppy was even born i had sent the breeder a "wishlist" of what i wanted from my next dog and and lots of info about me and my lifestyle. She also took a long time to get to know me. That way she was able to match me with a puppy that she felt fit my needs, and im glad i let her choose. She knew the sport I was competing in as she is a competitor herself for many years, and knew my personaility and expectations.

My guys absolutly love off leash hiking. Its one of the best options we have for conditioning and hike frequently in addition to off leash biking. Im pretty picky though about it because I prefer off leash areas and wont bother with a place that requires them to be on leash. I can walk my guys on leash anywhere, so whats the point?

Foxtails are horrible right now, so we've been doing more off leash biking than hiking until i can purchase one of thos foxtail net things that cover their heads and keeps them out.

No with only those changes i wouldnt warrent a vet vist yet. Like i said in my previous post, when switching a dog over to raw I dont become too concerned with inconsistant bowel movements, especially if she has some firm ones. Only time i would worry with my dogs is if its nasty bloody shooting diarhea and lack of energy or refusing to eat or drink (heaven forbid). I would continue to stick with chicken for a while longer. I tend to pick up whole chickens and cut them up in meaty/with bone portions. I would bet that when you feed her a meal without bone you are seeing loose stool and firm stools are the bone meals. Try doing a 50/50 meat to bone sort of meal for awhile.

Are you certain the losing of hair on her ears isnt spring allergies? sometime with the change in weather this time of year dogs can lose more coat or get seasonal allergens. Is she scratching or anything?